A message from our Executive Director about the LINK community meal, served out of the basement of First Christian Church in Lawrence, Kansas.
We served 152 people at LINK today! We’ve been averaging 135 people most service days, up 20% from this time last year.
Since our merger with LINK in April, we’ve been working hard on systematic shifts to increase safety for volunteers, guests, and the whole of our community. Underneath every change is the same goal: taking care of what began 41 years ago, so LINK can keep being a place our community serves at and receives support from for years to come.
We started by adding an hour to every service day: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. We now open at 12pm every day we are open. That extra hour gives us more time to build relationships. People can be inside with air conditioning, charge their phones, meet with case managers in a dedicated space, and use a restroom. We also made sure everyone has access to the internet, so they have more time to check notifications, connect with friends, family, and employers, and just enjoy themselves.
After adding that hour, we turned our attention to the environment outside LINK. Starting at 1pm, when lunch service opens, we now close outside. People are welcome to stay inside until 2pm or leave the property, but we’re no longer seeing large groups just hanging out in front of the building. Talking with prospective guests, current guests, and our neighbors, we heard the same thing from all of them: that was the most volatile interaction of the day. So we built a welcoming environment inside and let go of the loitering outside during lunch service.
The last shift is how we serve the meal. We serve dine-in only from 1 to 1:30, then open up for seconds and to-go plates from 1:30 until we close at 2pm. That keeps the focus on the community meal itself, the part that matters most, while still saving us money on to-go plates.
We also made a few changes to the space. Speakers for music, and a microphone so we can communicate clearly without anyone feeling like we’re raising our voices at them. We added a water station outside so people can fill their bottles, and reusable cups for dine-in service, which helps us save money too.
It’s the same thinking behind our Job Empowerment Program, where guests earn income cleaning up downtown and the streets around us: we can be the best homeless services agency in the world, but if our neighbors hate us, we have failed. The work we do has to be a win for those who are vulnerable and in crisis, and safe for the families who live across the street from us.
Our dream is that proximity builds more compassion between us, an environment where everybody feels safe and welcome. Today, a single mom with young kids felt safe enough to come inside and have a meal. I dream that keeps happening, for everyone in our community.
Forty-one years in, our job is to make sure LINK is still here, still safe, and still welcoming for the decades ahead. The next dream: a community meal at LINK seven days a week, and the ability to open our doors during inclement weather emergencies during the day. But first we have to build the trust and partnerships that make all of that possible.
Interested in helping us serve a meal or provide food? Email us at LINK@hrclawrence.org.
We all need each other. Dare to hope with us!
Brett Hartford, Executive Director